Method of knitting fine-gage fabrics.



R. W. SCOTT.Y

METHOD 0F KNITTING FINE GAGE FABRICS.

APISLICATlON FILED HAY 15| 1915.

atemed Non ZTL W1? 2 SHEETS-SHEET E, M ,d E O. Q Q d RW. SCOTT. METHODof Kwmm FINE GAGE mames. Y APPHCATON FILED MAYI, 1915.

LSLnTLQ. Patented Nov. 271', Mm

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UNITED ieaneriir onirica ROBERT W. SCQTT. OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.ASSIGNOR. BY MESNE ASSCNMIEN'L'y TO SCOTT & WILLIAMS, INCORPORATED. ACORPORATION OF MSSACHUSETTSL METHOD OF KNITTNG FINE-GAGE 'FiBE/ICS.

teasers.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2"?. 191'?.

Application ilod May 15, 1915. Serial No. 29AO.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I. Ronnirr lV. Scorr, a citizen of the United States.and resident ot' Boston. in the county ot Sutifolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and use't'ul Imnoi'ements in`Methods of Knitting- Fine-(rage Fabrics, ot' which the following;r is aspecitication.

My invention relates to an improved art Yor method of knitting fabrics.including fine-gage or closely-spaced,fabrics, on a series ot'instruments. .Vhile my invention may be carried out upon any series othooked instruments. it is especially adapted to he practised inconnection with any ot certain familiar types of knitting; machines.such as straight or circular machines employing movable hooked needles.

@ne object ot my invention is to so order the steps taken inmanipulation of a yarn or yarns by or upon such a series of instrumentsas to produce fabrics characterized by a greater variation in widthbetween their Widest and their narrowest portions, the number of knitwales remaining constant, than heretofore has been possible. Anotherobject is to decrease the size of the loop knit by instruments such asknittingr machine needles relatively to the size and spacingw ot' theinstruments. Another object is to provide for the making' upon a singleseries of instruments oi' seamless hosiery which shall be shaped orfashioned by variation in .the length ot stitch through a rature or to adegree heretofore impractimible by the use of said instruments.

4n thoaccompanyiugdrawings.

Figure l is a diagram showing fabric in he course of formation in thenew manner with the aid of knocking-over instruments, such asWeb-holders, and latch needles;

Fig. 2 is a similar diagram showingr the old mode of forming the fabric;

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating on a large scale certain movements ofand tensional stresses given the, yarn at the time of torination of thenew loop;

Fig. 4 is a comparative diagram illustrating needles;

Fig. 5 is an illustration of the seamless line gage Stocking of theprior art., and

Fig. 6 is an illustration ot a stockingr 'produced by my new method.

I will new explain my newmethod with reference to the instruments shownin Fig.

l as one example only of implements suit able to aid in per-formino thestepsof said method. The instruments n may be hooked needles and theinstruments `zo may be tixed or movable web-holders or otherknockingover devices having:` upper edges in a plane l. The size anddistance apart, or gage, o'tneedles a may be determined by a groovedcarrier or holder in which they are movable.

My new method will best be understood by comparison with the oldprocedure. Re-

iter-ring` now to Fig. 2, which shows a series ot' old instrumentsconnorising` hooked needles n and web-holders tu. workingin the old way.previous courses having been knit on such instruments as at l and 2, thenew course l is 'formed of yarn 3/ by drawing in turn a new loop througheach loop of the' 'course 2 titi vWhen the instruments are operated inthe usual manner just, described. I have observed that with the minimumdraft, the finest needles and with the remainingn conditions ot theprior art as known to me at their best. that the narrowest orshortestloop t'ahrie which can be knit still has nee ille wales largerthan the sinker wales joining them. each course containing more yarnthan is necessary. l hare determined the canse ol the relatively widefabric and large needle, loopsto be the freedom ot the oi a previouscourse such as the courtbe displaced downwardly by a needle 6 in the actof drawingP a new-course loop. The loop ot' a previous course 2 merelyrestingr upon the web holders w is carried downward by the stitchinglneedle through a distance measured at least by the full length of a loopof said course 2. and a needle drawingA a new, loop o is required to bedrawn a, vFurther distance still beneath plane P to cause its new loop oto penetrate the old loop a.

lite erringynow to Figi. it my new method lill!) und comprisesmanipulating the loops of a4 to tli'e vmotion of the .needlelpenetratingit,

and by sin'iultaneouslj7| placing the said loop of the previous courseunder lateral tension to draw it up tightly on to the neck of the newloop. Such a manipulation of the old or previous-course loop, bywhatever means it may-be caused, results in the penetration thereofand'completion of the new loop at a point relatively near theknocking-over plane P as compared with. the operation of the needles ofthe prior art, and for this reason the amount of yarn taken into the newloop (the amount measured by the ree cession of the hooked' needlesbeneath the plane P and instruments w) is materially lessened.

My invention" is not limited to any particular means for applyingupwardstress and tension tojthc previous-course loop,but I have also devisedand .will now explain one effective means for producing the said stressand the said tension. For this purpose I utilize the obstacle tothe freemovement of a yarn loop ,always present in latch needles, andconstituted by the exterior face of the needlel cheeks and the closedlatch and the point ofthe hook. Whatever the form of such needles, thereis some part of them at which the loop tends to hang, and on which theloop in which a needle is moving is' detained and carried along with theneedle. rjhis point may be, and usually is, the spoon or enlargement atthe tip of the latch. I therefore provide i'iecdles, as shown at it,Figs. l and l with hooks 7l. and latches (Z meeting at a peint separatedfrom the tip of the needle by a distance suilicient to bring theobstaclev to free passage of the loopsl materially beneath the tip. 'lhesaid distance depends somewhat upon the form of the needle-wave and thegage of the needles, but in any instance I place the obstacle at oneneedle following another down the 1e tracting slope S of the wave ofmovement so that its end will be materially beneath the tip of thepreceding needle. By'preference, the obstacle-on each needle culminatingat latch spoon nl", ends at a point substantially as unich beneath thetip of a preceding needle as the tip of said preceding needle is beneaththe'f tip ofthe following needle.

in Fig.' l, in which the needle at VI has` drawn barely enough yarn yfor new course 3 beneath plane P determined by the instruments fw.Before this time (see needle VII) needle VI willhave passed the end ofits obstacle at el through the loops@2 of previous course 2, and thefollowing needle VII wil-l still engage and continue to drag down-vwardly its loop w by engagement with its latch (l, as shown. Yarn forthe enlargement and displacement of loop is taken from the precedingloop :c2 now lfree upon its needle `V i Owing to the relatively fixedabutment w,

loop ,x2 is moved upwardly in the directionon thc needle following thestitching needle is made available to lift and tension the' loop beingpenetrated by the new stitch c of new course 3. The old or previouscourse loop is thereby independently moved in opposition to the needleto a point near the plane P.

The draft to bc given the needles may now be reduced to a point at whichthe loop c is long enough, and only long enough, when extended byrobbing its neighbors, to pass around the widest part of the needle, thetip of 'a needle at the lowest position being materially nearer theplane I than has heretofore been possible.

It will now be apparent that with respect to a series of needles of agiven gage my new method provides for decreasing thc least width of thefabric without in any 'way limiting capacity to increase the widthfashioning and seaming, with the aid of lixcd spring needles and by anexpensive series of operations includin r yarn-sinking andloop-transferring, have heretofore been defective by reason of too-wideheels, toes and feet, as illustrated in Fig. 5, which shows such aseamless stocking after finishing. Said stocking, in order to haveenough width at its wide parts without too loose and sleazy a texture,necessarily is made upon so many needles that the phenomena pointed outabove prevent a proper narrowing by shortening the stitches to makewellshaped ankles, heels, toes and feet. Such stockings, made as narrowas possible at said parts, are finished by stretching and shrinking on ashaped board, but this opera` tion can not be applied to decrease thelength in direction `L of the heel and toe or L for the heel, it beingnecessary to stretch the foot originally knit too short for that purposeand `heel and toe therewith) in direction L to shrink the foot in width;and to stretch the ankle and heel in direction L to shrink the ankle.Both heel and toe loeing already too wide, the heel and toe pockets inthe finished stocking are so much over size as to prevent-sale incompetition with flat-fashioned stockings of the same quality.

My new method enables a stocking having the same number of needle-walesthroughout to belknit at"the narrowest parts of coursesvso short as toavoid stretching ein cept for smoothing the fabric, and with heel andtoe fabrics partaking of the same quality. For comparison, Figs. 5 and 6have been supplied with dimensions in inches taken respectively from afinished stocking of the prior art and from an unfinished stockingproduced by my said method, both having throughout the same numbell ofneedle wales knit of the same yarn, and exactly similar legs and tops(not shown).

What I claim is:

1. The art of knitting on a series of hooked needles comprising forminga previous course of loops and thereafter placing each of said loopssuccessively under stress to move it -o its needle during format-ion ofa loop for a new course at said needle.

9. The art of knitting on a series of hooked needles comprising formingaprev-ious course of loops and thereafter placing each of said loopssuccessively under stress to move it oft' its needle and under lateraltension during formation of new course at said needle.

The method of knitting on series of needles comprising drawing a loopfor a new course at a certain needle, and simultaneously acting upon aloop of a previous course at a neighboring needle only to move anotherloop ol said previous course on said certain needle over said new loop.

4l. lf he method of forming on knitting' needles a course of short loopscomprising iirst forming a previous course loop on each of said needles,and then in succession moving said loops with respect to each needleover a new loop formed thereat, during` maintenance of tension saidprevious loop.

5. The method of knitting on a series of needles, fabrics characteri' dby abnormally short courses comprising acti upon a pre viens course loopat cach needle in turn to displace said loop at said needle, whereby toknock over and laterally tension another loop of said previous course,and thereafter forming a new loop of yarn at said needle 6. The methodof knitting fabrics having short loops on a series of needles and a.series ofknocking-over members such web-holders defining a yarndetaining snrface, comprising pulling upon the yarn of a previous courseto move a loop of said course toward said surface at the time of pullinga. new loop through said previous course loop. i

7. The method of knitting seamless stockings comprising first forn'iinga tubular leg portion in any known or usual manner, and. thereafterknitting tubular ankle, heel, foot and toe portions of fabric narrowedby decreasing the length of stitch, said narrowing operation includingmoving and tena loop a series o -sioning cach loop of a previous courseat the time of drawing a new loop through it, sub stantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ROBERT W. SCTT.

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